Reported by: Jainendra Kumar
The prominence given to Neha Bora, president of the Left-aligned All India Students’ Association (AISA), on Congress platforms led to resentment among office-bearers of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the party’s own wing, with a disgruntled member renaming an official WhatsApp group to ‘WE THE Chhotu’ for three days, ‘chhotu’ in Hindi here denoting ‘small’ or ‘errand-runner’. Others spoke on the subject too. On the path shown by our leader Rahul Gandhi, we will keep fighting this government and the ideology of the RSS-BJP, and further strengthen the student movement. NSUI president Vinod Jakhar denied any resentment over Neha Bora.
Sources told NDTV the name was changed back only after NSUI office-bearers met Rahul Gandhi and their grievance was set aside. No one, however, raised these issues in front of Rahul Gandhi, sources told NDTV. Asked why they did not complain directly to the leader, an NSUI office-bearer said, “All our pain went away the moment we met our leader, whether it was the police batons or the ‘Chhotu’ pain. Congress media in-charge Pawan Khera said the Congress is a platform for every voice that raises people’s concerns.
One was Rahul’s sister, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and the one on his right was Neha Bora. Bora was also seen in the bus that carried top leaders, and later on the truck where a select few led by Rahul stood amid a sea of fellow protesters. NSUI leadership was there too, including national president Vinod Jakhar. And AISA’s parent body CPI(ML)-Liberation is part of the INDIA bloc. CPI(ML) chief Dipankar Bhattacharya is seen as a philosopher-guide to Rahul. But the NSUI and AISA are rivals in student union elections at several universities.
On October 12, as INDIA bloc leaders marched to the Supreme Court to raise the issue of alleged electoral fraud, Bora was one of two women who walked in front and on whose shoulders Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi rested his hands.
READ | A Step Behind Neha Bora: What Rahul Gandhi’s Gesture Says About Congress’ Gen-Z Pitch The Congress and the Left often work together despite being rivals in states like Kerala.
